Crypto Holds the Line in a Holiday-Hit, Fear-Driven Week

Subdued crypto trading occurred during a holiday-heavy week from February 15–21, 2026, as U.S. Presidents' Day and Chinese New Year (February 16–18) closed or restricted key markets, thereby reducing liquidity and keeping price action essentially range-bound. Major business events like ETHDenver (February 17–21), which highlighted ongoing developments in Ethereum Layer 2 scaling, and a Hong Kong crypto conference (February 18–20), which focused on regional developments, added narrative complexity but failed to deliver quick bullish catalysts. Token-specific events such as the ZRO token unlock of roughly USD 46 million on February 20, and the WLFI Binance airdrop, elevated possible selling pressure across altcoins.

Starting the week at almost USD 70,330, Bitcoin dropped to a low of about USD 65,118 before finally settling in the USD 68,000–68,800 range by February 21. This move played out against roughly USD 360 million in U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF outflows, which the market absorbed relatively well, indicating underlying resilience despite the broader downtrend. Ethereum reflected this lowered weakness, trading from around USD 2,089 to near USD 1,966 and hovering near the critical USD 2,000 support level while experiencing approximately USD 85 million in ETF outflows.

All things considered, the convergence of holidays, earlier deleveraging, and ongoing macro prudence resulted in low-volume consolidation instead of strong price disruptions. Although the lack of a strong rebound emphasized still-delicate risk appetite, BTC and ETH retained up better than sentiment indicated. Altcoins generated selective bright spots—with names like SOL and XRP showing pockets of outperformance—but the wider market tone remained bearish, mirrored in an “Extreme Fear” reading on the Fear & Greed Index, even as macro statistics such a cooling U.S. CPI at 2.4% hinted at a possibly more encouraging background ahead.